DannyBoyinExile

One of the coolest innovations I’ve seen in TDCJ lately is the process of serving us drive-through meals. (See? They’ll do ANYTHING to get us ready for the free world!) haha
This idea was actually born as a result of shortage of staff issues, which I’ve named “short-of-staffageness”. TDCJ is chronically short of staff, and days such as weekends or holidays are worse, since so many of their guards come down with unforeseen (but highly predictable) illnesses and emergencies then.
By state and federal law, there is an exact ratio of how many COs are required for a given amount of inmates, so that there will be enough staff on hand to deal with any emergencies or disruptions. There are many prisons throughout TDCJ, each with its own administration and staff – but one thing they all have in common is short-of-staffageness.
Things like recreation and showers are routinely cancelled, and some units are even placed on lockdown because they simply do not have enough staff for normal operations. Wynne Unit has its share of short-of-staffageness, to be sure, but I must admit that it’s not as serious as it is on other units. They even find enough staff to come and get me for work every day, I’m sorry to say… (just kidding)
This is, however, the first unit I’ve seen using the drive-through system for meals. The officer on the wing will announce, ” Drive-Through Chow! Bring your bowls!”
Then the inmates will go through the line and put their food into their own bowls – then walk right back out the door and back to their wings, where they can eat in their own cells, at their leisure. I’ll admit that I actually PREFER it this way, and wish they’d feed ALL meals like that!
Who wants to sit in a hot chow hall, sweating, while they pack as many inmates into it as will possibly fit, before they empty it out again? (And this after sitting in the dayroom for an hour, waiting to go to chow in the first place.) Not to mention the fact that back in your cell, you are free to add a handful of chips, a squirt of mustard, some ranch dressing, or whatever seasonings or condiments you have at hand, that you couldn’t possibly carry to the chow hall.
Some inmates still complain, as they will about most anything. “Why do I have to waste soap or toilet paper to wash my bowl out, when THEY’RE supposed to wash dishes?!” Come on, man! An inmate who complains that much about washing his bowl out probably doesn’t wash it very much in the first place.
They’ve brought new meaning to the term BYOB: bring your own bowl. But of course, no inmate will go without eating, and guys who refuse to bring their own bowls are free to grab a tray, as always. They will then eat and slide the empty (and dirty) tray onto the run for the wing’s janitor to collect. Which is extra work, hassle, and mess to clean up – but it comes with the territory.
At least we ARE eating hot meals, instead of sack meals, and that’s something to be thankful for. Even John Wayne, after eating around a campfire, had to wash his own bowl – and we’re no tougher than him. Cleaning up after ourselves is something we’ll always have to do, so we may as well learn to do so now. It just may make us easier to to live with, later on. Even mothers and wives, who wash dishes every day, appreciate a little help every now and then. So says DannyBoy.